Venus 14 Tanker Sinking: What It Means for Hua Hin’s Coast
A fuel tender sank in the upper Gulf on 11 November, reportedly with about 280,000 litres of diesel aboard. One crew member has been found alive and five are missing. No leak is confirmed, and the drift model points south of Hua Hin.
About 63 kilometres east-southeast of Hua Hin town, in open water off Pak Nam Pran, a 32-metre fuel tender called Venus 14 went down on 11 November. It was reportedly carrying about 280,000 litres of diesel. The first rescue effort found one crew member alive on the night of 12 November, and five people are still missing according to the navy’s latest count.
For Hua Hin, the question is whether any of that diesel reaches the coast. So far the answer is no leak, no confirmed slick and no beach advisory in any report we have read. The distance figure is our own calculation from the coordinates the Marine Department gave, so treat it as approximate.
What happened
Venus 14 supplied fuel to fishing boats and was licensed to work in a restricted coastal area. The Prachuap Khiri Khan regional Marine Office says the vessel’s owner notified it of the sinking on 11 November, Banmuang reports. The position given is 12°20′N, 100°29′E, about 28 nautical miles off the Prachuap coast. English-language reports describe the same spot as 27 nautical miles south-west of the Sattahip naval base channel, which is why some of them say “off Chonburi”.
The cause has not been stated. Baird Maritime says the owner lost contact at about 05:00 and raised the alarm at 09:00, and that the vessel went down stern-first. The crew count is not settled either: the navy says six were aboard, while the Prachuap Marine Office reportedly cited seven.
| Date | Development | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Nov, 05:00 | Owner loses contact with the vessel | Baird Maritime |
| 11 Nov, 09:00 | Sinking reported; navy sends patrol boat T.113 and an aircraft | The Nation, Baird Maritime |
| 12 Nov | Search enters day two; HTMS Panyi, an oil-response ship, on standby | Baird Maritime |
| 12 Nov, about 22:15 | Fishing boat Phon Nuchit 5 picks up one crew member | Thai Examiner |
| 13 Nov | Navy confirms the rescue; five still missing, no leak reported | The Thaiger |
The survivor was found roughly 30 nautical miles from the wreck, towards Khlong Wan, Thai Examiner reports. Strong winds and rough seas kept the fishing boat out of harbour, so the navy’s pollution-response vessel went to collect him. His condition has not been disclosed. A frigate also recovered an orange lifejacket near the believed sinking position, and investigators are checking whether it came from the tender.
Map: Hitkub. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. The wreck position is plotted from the Marine Department coordinates reported by Banmuang and is approximate.
The diesel and the drift model
No fuel leak had been confirmed by Friday lunchtime, and the navy has oil-containment equipment, a helicopter and the Panyi ready if one appears. The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) has run a drift model. It says any escaped diesel would move south first, then west or south-west, which points toward Prachuap Khiri Khan Bay rather than the Hua Hin shoreline to the north.
In that worst case, about 61 rai of coral reef could be exposed, according to Thai Examiner. The sites are Ko Rad, Khao Lom Muak, Ko Lak, Ko Rom and Ko Haim, all around the provincial capital roughly 95 kilometres south of Hua Hin. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources has also flagged waters near Sam Roi Yot, the nearest stretch of coast to the south of Pranburi. These are contingency figures, not damage reports, and a model run depends on wind and sea state that can change within a day.
Chart: Hitkub. Data: GISTDA modelling as reported by Thai Examiner, 13 November 2026. The figures are a projection, not measured damage.
How it compares, and what to watch
There is a recent local precedent. In January 2022 the tanker P. Andaman 2 sank about 24 nautical miles off Pak Nam Chumphon with roughly 500,000 litres of diesel aboard. Officials estimated that currents could carry a slick to coastal districts of Prachuap Khiri Khan, and they asked the owner to prepare dispersant and place booms around the wreck, and Thai PBS noted at the time that spilled diesel can break down naturally but still needs monitoring. The current case involves less fuel, sits further north, and has so far produced no leak report.
For anyone planning a weekend on the Hua Hin shore, nothing in the reporting we have read changes beach plans. The things worth watching are an official pollution notice from the Marine Department or the navy, any change to the drift forecast, and the fate of the five missing crew. The Thaiger says the navy has pledged to keep searching.
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